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Gene Fisch

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Gene Fisch has authored a book entitled "All Love Comes Home"

He will be at the Hazard Street Library tonight at 7 PM for a book signing.

In case you or someone you know would like to attend, the library is located on the West Side, near Sacred Heart Church at 1620 West Genesee Street
 
Used to hang banner at Sacred Heart Gym that said "Fisch on Fridays". Thats cause the games were played on Fridays. I think there was a player by the name of Cooney from St. Vincent's?? so the banner said "No Cooneys on Friday just Fisch". Something like that as i recollect.
 
Guy from SH went to Niagara Mike Hanley? can't remember last name,Besides the Joe Reddick/Collins/Dowdells/Bregard/Chris Copanis I thought a Guy named Drummond was the best in the CNYCL, maybe Robs Dad
 
Used to hang banner at Sacred Heart Gym that said "Fisch on Fridays". Thats cause the games were played on Fridays. I think there was a player by the name of Cooney from St. Vincent's?? so the banner said "No Cooneys on Friday just Fisch". Something like that as i recollect.
There was a Fran Cooney from Assumption
 
If, by chance, anyone still checks this thread I’d like to offer my memories of the Parochial League in the early to mid 1960s. I stumbled across this blog when I read in a recent Sunday paper that Gene Fisch was conducting a lecture at a local library. As a Grammar school kid in the early 1960s I would travel from Rosary to the Hearts to watch the Wizard weave his magic. Like other kids in grade school, I wanted to be the next Gene Fisch , an unattainable objective for most of us. I then went to the internet to research Gene‘s life trail after NYU. I had lost track of his his career after watching a few televised NYU games. I found this thread which is , without doubt, the best I’ve seen.
In my opinion, the Parochial League, with basketball was its nucleus, was a culture unto itself. I graduated from Rosary in 1965 and played ball as a “Rodney Dangerfield Guard.” By that I mean that I shared the position with the great Bill Schmidt, a three year starter and ( at least ) a two year first team All Parochial. Bill never met a shot he didn’t like to take, and he made most of them; hence my unremarkable scoring average. The other starters my Senior year were Noel Byrne , Jimmy Horton and Jim ( Brigham) Young. We were coached by the great Billy Hassett, who played his ball at Notre Dame and then for the Milwaukee Lakers. My career lowlights included attempting to guard Bob Bregard, one of the best gunners ever, being intimidated by a seemingly endless horde of Evangelist Juniors ( we all know who they were) and having the ball stolen by Jimmy Grooms ( Baptist) while I was bringing the ball down court by myself. That ignominy occurred during a playoff game at Hearts ( neutral courts were the playoff venues ) and I wanted to run, in uniform, out of the gym and hide under my bed for eternity.
After graduation I headed East along the Thruway to Siena, where I found that a number of Parochial ball players had preceded me by a year. The Sophomores were Tony Marsello ( St. Vincents ), John Michalic ( St. Anthony’s), Jerry Pollock ( MHR) and Pat Cain and Bob Maroney ( Pats ) . Other Rosary hoopers who later attended Siena were Noel Byrne , Tom Joyce and TJ Sheridan, all Siena ball players.
Those were the days when Parochial dads would return from WW2 and settle back in their old neighborhoods to raise a family. Many of my buddies’ fathers went to Rosary with my father, who was a multi year All Parochial.
When I refer to the PL culture, I am reminded of the friendships developed with ball players from the other schools. Warm Summer nights would find guys from other Catholic schools invading our Upper Onondaga park for hoops. Lose one game and your team would would have quite a bit of time to rest. A pickup game at the Y would often find me with my Vincents’ friend, Billy Shaw.
One highlight was when the late, great Joe Mulherin ( Baptist, 1964 )would showcase his magnificent talents at Onondaga. Joe later became a Marine, took enemy shrapnel in his leg in Vietnam, and returned home to start for Lemoyne, playing with kids five to eight years younger. Anyone who wouldn’t melt with patriotism after hearing his story of strength and determination would have to have a heart of stone. On other post High School evenings we’d find ourselves spinning exaggerated tales of our hoop prowress with other PL buddies at Garzone’s ( every Thursday) and the Poor House West.
We enjoyed the after game dances and I managed to go out with a Baptist girl for awhile until she, like many others, gave me my walking papers. As I used to say about the girls who dumped me..“ Their name is legion.” We also tried to clumsily ply our negligible charms on the Italian girls with the big hair at the dances at Belle Hall , near Assumption. Those were the days when you could address your buddy as Pollock, Mick, Kraut and Dago and no one would be offended. When past Mayor Tom Young ( Pats, 1965) joked that we Rosarians were “ snobs on the hill”, no one was offended . After all, we (geographically at least) looked down on the unwashed masses that were our Parochial brethren. Besides, we certainly weren’t about to boycott Coleman’s.
I could go on but, at this juncture I didn’t want to make this post too long. Yes, I remember all the bars mentioned in this thread, the Elmwood Animals , Sandy Pond, etc., but that’s for another musing. I have often thought that the history of the Parochial League must be told. The hoopsters of the Greatest Generation are playing at the next level at an accelerated pace and we need to reduce their memories to writing. Any interest out there ?
To digress, as for the comments about Andy Dobreski, he started for Rosary as a Freshman and transferred to Central.
.
 
 
 
 
If, by chance, anyone still checks this thread I’d like to offer my memories of the Parochial League in the early to mid 1960s. I stumbled across this blog when I read in a recent Sunday paper that Gene Fisch was conducting a lecture at a local library. As a Grammar school kid in the early 1960s I would travel from Rosary to the Hearts to watch the Wizard weave his magic. Like other kids in grade school, I wanted to be the next Gene Fisch , an unattainable objective for most of us. I then went to the internet to research Gene‘s life trail after NYU. I had lost track of his his career after watching a few televised NYU games. I found this thread which is , without doubt, the best I’ve seen.
In my opinion, the Parochial League, with basketball was its nucleus, was a culture unto itself. I graduated from Rosary in 1965 and played ball as a “Rodney Dangerfield Guard.” By that I mean that I shared the position with the great Bill Schmidt, a three year starter and ( at least ) a two year first team All Parochial. Bill never met a shot he didn’t like to take, and he made most of them; hence my unremarkable scoring average. The other starters my Senior year were Noel Byrne , Jimmy Horton and Jim ( Brigham) Young. We were coached by the great Billy Hassett, who played his ball at Notre Dame and then for the Milwaukee Lakers. My career lowlights included attempting to guard Bob Bregard, one of the best gunners ever, being intimidated by a seemingly endless horde of Evangelist Juniors ( we all know who they were) and having the ball stolen by Jimmy Grooms ( Baptist) while I was bringing the ball down court by myself. That ignominy occurred during a playoff game at Hearts ( neutral courts were the playoff venues ) and I wanted to run, in uniform, out of the gym and hide under my bed for eternity.
After graduation I headed East along the Thruway to Siena, where I found that a number of Parochial ball players had preceded me by a year. The Sophomores were Tony Marsello ( St. Vincents ), John Michalic ( St. Anthony’s), Jerry Pollock ( MHR) and Pat Cain and Bob Maroney ( Pats ) . Other Rosary hoopers who later attended Siena were Noel Byrne , Tom Joyce and TJ Sheridan, all Siena ball players.
Those were the days when Parochial dads would return from WW2 and settle back in their old neighborhoods to raise a family. Many of my buddies’ fathers went to Rosary with my father, who was a multi year All Parochial.
When I refer to the PL culture, I am reminded of the friendships developed with ball players from the other schools. Warm Summer nights would find guys from other Catholic schools invading our Upper Onondaga park for hoops. Lose one game and your team would would have quite a bit of time to rest. A pickup game at the Y would often find me with my Vincents’ friend, Billy Shaw.
One highlight was when the late, great Joe Mulherin ( Baptist, 1964 )would showcase his magnificent talents at Onondaga. Joe later became a Marine, took enemy shrapnel in his leg in Vietnam, and returned home to start for Lemoyne, playing with kids five to eight years younger. Anyone who wouldn’t melt with patriotism after hearing his story of strength and determination would have to have a heart of stone. On other post High School evenings we’d find ourselves spinning exaggerated tales of our hoop prowress with other PL buddies at Garzone’s ( every Thursday) and the Poor House West.
We enjoyed the after game dances and I managed to go out with a Baptist girl for awhile until she, like many others, gave me my walking papers. As I used to say about the girls who dumped me..“ Their name is legion.” We also tried to clumsily ply our negligible charms on the Italian girls with the big hair at the dances at Belle Hall , near Assumption. Those were the days when you could address your buddy as Pollock, Mick, Kraut and Dago and no one would be offended. When past Mayor Tom Young ( Pats, 1965) joked that we Rosarians were “ snobs on the hill”, no one was offended . After all, we (geographically at least) looked down on the unwashed masses that were our Parochial brethren. Besides, we certainly weren’t about to boycott Coleman’s.
I could go on but, at this juncture I didn’t want to make this post too long. Yes, I remember all the bars mentioned in this thread, the Elmwood Animals , Sandy Pond, etc., but that’s for another musing. I have often thought that the history of the Parochial League must be told. The hoopsters of the Greatest Generation are playing at the next level at an accelerated pace and we need to reduce their memories to writing. Any interest out there ?
To digress, as for the comments about Andy Dobreski, he started for Rosary as a Freshman and transferred to Central.
.
 
 
 
You are welcome to join Cherie Hoop, Tomcat & I in our effort to memorialize the golden era of Parochial League Basketball. We plan on doing an online book starting next year.
 
You are welcome to join Cherie Hoop, Tomcat & I in our effort to memorialize the golden era of Parochial League Basketball. We plan on doing an online book starting next year.
You ever attend the West-side Old timers (survivors) banquet? Run by Hearts old coach Billy E (evanicyk?). My Brother Red Daniszeski keeps telling me about when he played (for VO) and players he played with (Larry Costello). Many "Pollack"players went to other parochial schools instead of Hearts (Dietz?) He's older than both of us by a lot but his memory is still spot on.
 
If, by chance, anyone still checks this thread I’d like to offer my memories of the Parochial League in the early to mid 1960s. I stumbled across this blog when I read in a recent Sunday paper that Gene Fisch was conducting a lecture at a local library. As a Grammar school kid in the early 1960s I would travel from Rosary to the Hearts to watch the Wizard weave his magic. Like other kids in grade school, I wanted to be the next Gene Fisch , an unattainable objective for most of us. I then went to the internet to research Gene‘s life trail after NYU. I had lost track of his his career after watching a few televised NYU games. I found this thread which is , without doubt, the best I’ve seen.
In my opinion, the Parochial League, with basketball was its nucleus, was a culture unto itself. I graduated from Rosary in 1965 and played ball as a “Rodney Dangerfield Guard.” By that I mean that I shared the position with the great Bill Schmidt, a three year starter and ( at least ) a two year first team All Parochial. Bill never met a shot he didn’t like to take, and he made most of them; hence my unremarkable scoring average. The other starters my Senior year were Noel Byrne , Jimmy Horton and Jim ( Brigham) Young. We were coached by the great Billy Hassett, who played his ball at Notre Dame and then for the Milwaukee Lakers. My career lowlights included attempting to guard Bob Bregard, one of the best gunners ever, being intimidated by a seemingly endless horde of Evangelist Juniors ( we all know who they were) and having the ball stolen by Jimmy Grooms ( Baptist) while I was bringing the ball down court by myself. That ignominy occurred during a playoff game at Hearts ( neutral courts were the playoff venues ) and I wanted to run, in uniform, out of the gym and hide under my bed for eternity.
After graduation I headed East along the Thruway to Siena, where I found that a number of Parochial ball players had preceded me by a year. The Sophomores were Tony Marsello ( St. Vincents ), John Michalic ( St. Anthony’s), Jerry Pollock ( MHR) and Pat Cain and Bob Maroney ( Pats ) . Other Rosary hoopers who later attended Siena were Noel Byrne , Tom Joyce and TJ Sheridan, all Siena ball players.
Those were the days when Parochial dads would return from WW2 and settle back in their old neighborhoods to raise a family. Many of my buddies’ fathers went to Rosary with my father, who was a multi year All Parochial.
When I refer to the PL culture, I am reminded of the friendships developed with ball players from the other schools. Warm Summer nights would find guys from other Catholic schools invading our Upper Onondaga park for hoops. Lose one game and your team would would have quite a bit of time to rest. A pickup game at the Y would often find me with my Vincents’ friend, Billy Shaw.
One highlight was when the late, great Joe Mulherin ( Baptist, 1964 )would showcase his magnificent talents at Onondaga. Joe later became a Marine, took enemy shrapnel in his leg in Vietnam, and returned home to start for Lemoyne, playing with kids five to eight years younger. Anyone who wouldn’t melt with patriotism after hearing his story of strength and determination would have to have a heart of stone. On other post High School evenings we’d find ourselves spinning exaggerated tales of our hoop prowress with other PL buddies at Garzone’s ( every Thursday) and the Poor House West.
We enjoyed the after game dances and I managed to go out with a Baptist girl for awhile until she, like many others, gave me my walking papers. As I used to say about the girls who dumped me..“ Their name is legion.” We also tried to clumsily ply our negligible charms on the Italian girls with the big hair at the dances at Belle Hall , near Assumption. Those were the days when you could address your buddy as Pollock, Mick, Kraut and Dago and no one would be offended. When past Mayor Tom Young ( Pats, 1965) joked that we Rosarians were “ snobs on the hill”, no one was offended . After all, we (geographically at least) looked down on the unwashed masses that were our Parochial brethren. Besides, we certainly weren’t about to boycott Coleman’s.
I could go on but, at this juncture I didn’t want to make this post too long. Yes, I remember all the bars mentioned in this thread, the Elmwood Animals , Sandy Pond, etc., but that’s for another musing. I have often thought that the history of the Parochial League must be told. The hoopsters of the Greatest Generation are playing at the next level at an accelerated pace and we need to reduce their memories to writing. Any interest out there ?
To digress, as for the comments about Andy Dobreski, he started for Rosary as a Freshman and transferred to Central.
.
 
 
 

I also am an MHR grad ('69). In fact after TJ Sheridan who I graduated with, Mike Ruane from the class of '71 also went to Siena to play ball. Jim Michaels - class of '71 went to New Mexico St if I recall correctly. I remember Bill Schmidt well , he was a senior when I was in 8th grade but he lived in my Wadsworth Park neighborhood at the time. I spoke to Tom Michaels, Mike Fogarty and planned to speak to TJ, Billy Timmins & Tim Conboy about the old days. You will bring a great personal perspective and more interesting history than I can. Tom Joyce lives in Florida now and last time I heard, Noel Byrne was in Arizona. Orangeyes and Tomcat have lots of information on Evangelist and St Vincents respectively and Orangeyes has great memorabilia and overall knowledge of the league. I have some friends who used to play for St Pat's and St Anthony's and hope to corral them for information too. Jerry Wilcox has a yearly parochial league golf tournament which could be helpful. I will send you a message in your inbox to get your e-mail address. Thank you for posting and sharing your memories. It was a remarkable era and it would be a shame to lose that history.
 
Anyone know John Leone or his older brother Joe? Believe both went to St. Vincents. John graduated in 1970 and Joe in 1968? Both Leones went on to play at Hartwick (where I was friends with John) and John later coached at Lafayette. Good guys.
 
Anyone know John Leone or his older brother Joe? Believe both went to St. Vincents. John graduated in 1970 and Joe in 1968? Both Leones went on to play at Hartwick (where I was friends with John) and John later coached at Lafayette. Good guys.
 
Anyone know John Leone or his older brother Joe? Believe both went to St. Vincents. John graduated in 1970 and Joe in 1968? Both Leones went on to play at Hartwick (where I was friends with John) and John later coached at Lafayette. Good guys.

Yes doesn't one of them help coach at CBA or is it one of their sons?
 
You got it. Remember his first name was Fran about ten minutes after I was off computer.
Are you referring to Tom Cooney, a great PL player who later coached at LeMoyne ? Fran Satalin played for The Baptists in the early 1960s.
You are welcome to join Cherie Hoop, Tomcat & I in our effort to memorialize the golden era of Parochial League Basketball. We plan on doing an online book starting next year.
I also am an MHR grad ('69). In fact after TJ Sheridan who I graduated with, Mike Ruane from the class of '71 also went to Siena to play ball. Jim Michaels - class of '71 went to New Mexico St if I recall correctly. I remember Bill Schmidt well , he was a senior when I was in 8th grade but he lived in my Wadsworth Park neighborhood at the time. I spoke to Tom Michaels, Mike Fogarty and planned to speak to TJ, Billy Timmins & Tim Conboy about the old days. You will bring a great personal perspective and more interesting history than I can. Tom Joyce lives in Florida now and last time I heard, Noel Byrne was in Arizona. Orangeyes and Tomcat have lots of information on Evangelist and St Vincents respectively and Orangeyes has great memorabilia and overall knowledge of the league. I have some friends who used to play for St Pat's and St Anthony's and hope to corral them for information too. Jerry Wilcox has a yearly parochial league golf tournament which could be helpful. I will send you a message in your inbox to get your e-mail address. Thank you for posting and sharing your memories. It was a remarkable era and it would be a shame to lose that history.

My email address is doncmg@aol.com. Write and I'll send more information.
 
I played against Gene Fisch in practice games; he for Sacred Heart and me for Eastwood. Sacred Heart was a very good team; they had a fast break that beat all hell. He was and is a great guy. We were fairly good friends and have rediscovered one another on the internet.

No one is more deserving of this honor than Gene.

Not sure if he was the best ever to play in the Parochial League. A teammate of mine at Blessed Sacrament, Bob Kallfelz, was the best shooter I've ever seen. If it hadn't been for a ruined knee when he was a junior, he probably would've broken all the scoring records. There was a kid, Lou Napoliwitz (sp) at Assumption who was very good. Chuck Bisesi, I believe also at Assumption, was also terrific. John Caveny at St. John the Evangelist was very good. I'm really stretching my memory on this one. There were many great ones.

Jim Dooling was also a very good player for Blessed Sacrament and St Johns.
 
No, I didn't, eyes. Thanks for sharing it.

Bob Kallfelz lives in Las Vegas, as far as I know.
Ali, just learned this morning at a breakfast gathering of SJCA grads that Bob passed away on Monday

Here is his obit in case you want to write his family a note

Robert Kalfellz
 
Ali, just learned this morning at a breakfast gathering of SJCA grads that Bob passed away on Monday

Here is his obit in case you want to write his family a note

Robert Kalfellz

Thanks, Eyes. Someone sent me the obit yesterday, and I offered my condolences to Bob's family. He was a great guy and the best pure shooter I've ever played with/against.
 
As a kid growing up in the Parochial league I was just as fanatic about basketball as I am now. In grammar school and high school I was lucky enough to witness some of the greatest games, players and coaches to grace Central New York's gymnasium's.

At one point, a few years ago I was even going to write a book on the league. I knew my best resources were near the end of the their lives and I would have to interview them while they were still here and of sound mind. I wasn't going to do this for any monetary gain, goodness knows this project would probably lose money. No, I would do this as a service to the community, a way of saying thank you to an era that was truly glorious and unique. To preserve the memories of several generations and maybe put together a shrine to the people who made so many happy moments for so many people growing up in and around it.

If you are too young to remember the Parochial League or if you have never heard of it you were one of my intended audiences. The book would serve as a reference and guide to an era of tiny gyms, and David versus Goliath encounters that were staged at the War Memorial between the Champions of the Parochial League and the City League. The Parochial League was always David and many times they overcame their big city brothers.

9596770-large.jpg


Most of the makeup of the Parochial league teams were of neighborhood kids of similar ethnic backgrounds. Sacred Heart was mostly the "Polocks", St. Pat's the "Irishmen" and Assumption the "Italian's".

9727637-large.jpg


Some schools like mine, St. John The Evangelist, were comprised of hybrids, as kids like me who had no nearby Catholic Church, migrated downtown. We also were the destination for most of the Eastwood kids who graduated from Blessed Sacrament some six miles away.

Gene Fisch was perhaps the greatest player to have played in the Parochial league. I remember seeing him up close and noticing that the skin on his face didn't look normal in spots. I learned that he had been in a prisoner of war camp in Poland during the German takeover and was scalded with hot water by his captors. Whether or not that story was true I have no way of knowing but everyone knew that story and we all believed it.

Edit: It was true, the Germans were using Polish prisoners as guinea pigs to do skin graphs in practice for when they had to treat their soldiers who had burns.


I never did do the book, as I was told by the Onondaga Historical Society that someone was already in the process of doing that history. A few years later I checked back to see if and when the book was going to be published. I tracked the author to Chicago. To my dismay I learned that his book was going to cover the Bishop Ludden era forward. That era came sometime after the Parochial League's demise.

o186709felasc_20100415.jpg


Bob Felasco, coach at St. John the Evangelist and a former Orangeman basketball player as well as Greater Syracuse HOF inductee who passed away last year

There is still a book to be written but some of the main resources have since died. Below is the Hall of Fame bio of Gene Fisch, Geno as we called him. Regrettably, it doesn't even scratch the surface of his greatness as seen through the eyes of the child that I was. "Geno" will be inducted into the Greater Syracuse Hall of Fame tomorrow right along with Syracuse greats, Chris Gedney, John Cherundolo and Bernie Fine. I just thought I should let you know a little bit more about him and that bygone era that holds so many sweet memories for those of us who lived it.

Congratulations Gene and and thanks for the memories of a lifetime.

Gene Fisch Hall of Fame Bio
 
 
Was he the greatest basketball player in Parochial League history? That question can be debated but never answered to the satisfaction of all. But, Gene Fisch's ball-handling wizardry was legendary. In 1959, and only a sophomore, Fisch, along with senior Dick Pospiech, led Adam Markowski's Sacred Heart team to its first Parochial League championship and an unblemished 21-0 record. The next two seasons Fisch led the Hearts to two regular season titles and one playoff crown. He was the league's leading scorer despite not even measuring six foot tall. He was rated the best player, pound for pound, during his time in the Parochial League. Fisch went on to play collegiately at New York University.
I believe there was a player called Cooney that played for Assumtion or st Anthony's . Anyway they hung a sign in hearts gym when the game was played on avFriday that said " Fisch on Friday, no Cooneys"
 
I believe they have a west end survivors meeting every year honoring all the athletes that played on the west side. Billy Evaniscak (so) runs it
 
My dad, John Murphy, played for St. Anthony's. Good enough to have a tryout with the Bonnie's.
Played with Bobby Sheehan, dad of the lax Sheehan.
 
Boy I miss Dan (Orangeyes). MC Antil wrote ‘Floor Burns’, a book about the old parochial league. Great read. Floor Burns » Book Chapters
I went Sacrer Heart and Gene Fisch was amazing. I can remember a game against ? And they had a star whose last name was Cooney . So the SH fans put up a sign that said a” no Cooneys on Friday...0nly Fisch!”
 

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